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Monday, May 28, 2007

The Big Announcement

My goodness, that was certainly a fast response! I should try some intrigue in my posts more often. But I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Without any further ado, here is the big announcement:

The first-ever Knit/Wit blog contest!

For the past week or so, I've been alluding to the fact that J and I have a vacation coming up. Here are the details that "nebby minds" want to know: This Friday, we are leaving for a week in Hilton Head with the whole family (and by whole family I mean my parents, J's parents, and my kid brother -- you'll be happy to hear that we'll be in a big house with a bathroom for each bedroom). After considering my options, I decided that I would take only sock yarn with me, since socks are bound to be the most practical and most portable project I could take on the trip.

And therein lies the key question you must answer as your entry to the contest: How many socks do you think I will complete by the end of the trip?

Here are the rules:

1) One entry per person, and your entry must be in a comment to this post.

2) For the sake of being as accurate as possible, we'll call a sock with a completed leg 1/3 complete and a sock with a completed heel or heel and gusset as 2/3 complete.

3) Your guess is the number of completed individual socks, not completed pairs.

4) The contest closes at 12 pm (noon) EST this Friday, June 1, which is when I'll be leaving the office and getting ready to head out.

5) In the case of a tie, all entries with the correct number of completed socks will be entered into a random drawing. In the case that no one correctly guesses the number of socks completed, all entries will be placed in a random drawing.

I'm sure the big question on everyone mind is, What do I win? Will this do as a prize?

This is a skein of Colinette Jitterbug in colorway 87, Bright Charcoal. I decided to use the last of my Knit One birthday gift card to buy this and I'm hoping it'll have a good home to go to when I get back from vacation.

If you need some help in making your guess, here are some things you might want to know:

The fastest I've ever knit a pair of socks was four days (these socks, specifically), and that was while working full time, so I certainly wasn't knitting all day long.

We are driving down to Hilton Head, in two cars and over two days. I am not planning on doing any of the driving.

The trip is approximately 700 miles, so we anticipate the whole trip will take roughly 10-12 hours, depending on traffic and whether or not we get lost along the way. We are also leaving in the early afternoon on Friday, so we'll have daylight for pretty much all of the trip.

I am planning on taking a couple books with me, but I don't know if I'll actually spend that much time reading (after all, this is a vacation and I do read for a living!)

I am NOT telling you how much yarn I am taking with me.

I am going to be taking my laptop with me and hope to be updating on the road, for all of you who like to keep score. Also, does anyone know of any good knitter-friendly attractions or even yarn stores in Hilton Head? If I find a yarn store, I just might decide to pick up some other prizes for a random drawing to be held later ...

Okay knitters, make your guess! (This should be a good opportunity for some of you to delurk!)

12 p.m. EST ETA: The contest is now closed. Thanks for your guesses! Please check back to see my progress!

Fun contest. I'm going to guess low, because I hope you'll take lots of time to do other things, like sit in the sun, and eat, and nap, and visit, and partake of a beverage of your choice if you so desire. My guess: 3 and 1/3.

Hmm, I was just on a 2 week vacation and finished about 1.5 socks in that time period. But I'm going to guess that you are a faster knitter then me (or maybe less distracted by good books than I was), so I'll say 4 socks total.Have fun!!

Have lots of fun on your vacation! I am so ready to go back on vacation myself. I love everyone else's guesses, and I am not going to hazard one myself, but I know you'll do better than I did also - like Jenn, I think I got about three inches of knitting done while on vacation!

I'm not usually really productive on vacation, but with the round trip car ride and the possible need to hide from family in that big house - oh and beach knitting - I'm going with 2 pair - 4 socks. Have a great trip!

I came over from the SAM3 blog; what a cool idea for a contest. I'm going to guess 3 1/3. Somehow I doubt you'll be knitting all day every day. Unless it rains the whole time and no one would wish that on you!

I'm thinking you'll finish one pair and begin a third sock, but not finish it. That's 2 socks and a cuff of a third. You shouldn't read these guesses before knitting. It WILL affect your effort. It's a psychological thing, you know.

Hi thanks for having this contest sounds like a fun trip im going to say 3 1/3 socks but when you get to your destination and out of car put socks away and have some fun.And dont pick up a book vacation is to get away with family and enjoy each others company oh and eat eat eat lolhugs kat

As you will have 24ish hours sitting in a car (there and back) and you can knit a pair in 4 days...I go with 3 & 1/3 socks. That's really high [assuming that you are like most of us and don't manage a stitch outside of the car!]and if you manage to get that much cranked out...I do not want to see the state of your hands when you get home. :D

I'd guess lower, but you have a LOT of non-driving car time. My guess? 2-1/3. I always think I'm gonna do a lot of knitting but I never actually do any of that. Plus, sand and yarn don't mix all that well.

Have a fabulous time! :) Do what YOU want to do. If knitting doesn't wind up on top of that list while you're gone, there's no reason to do it. That's my philosophy!